"Be ready! Always ready!" - a call known to almost every person who grew up during the Soviet Union. They used to perceive it as a cry of the pioneers, however, it turns out that the history of its origin has somewhat different roots.
Origin story
The motto "Be ready!", As well as the response to it - "Always ready!", Was first formulated by the English military man Robert Baden-Powell. This slogan was part of his idea for the formation of the scout movement, which he developed at the beginning of the 20th century. He proposed a concept of out-of-school education and development of children and adolescents, based on things that are extremely interesting for the younger generation - folk crafts, tourism, orienteering, basic military training and other subject areas that seem so fascinating to boys and girls.
Initially, the colonel's scouting system was focused primarily on boys: so, at least, according to his book "Scouting for Boys" published in 1908. However, he subsequently expanded the target audience of his program to include both boys and young men as well as girls and girls between the ages of 7 and 21. The scouts' motto “Be ready!”, To which each of them had to answer “Always ready!” At any time, symbolized their readiness to resist difficulties and achieve their goals in any conditions.
Motto in Russia
The appeal to Russia "Be ready!" coupled with the review "Always ready!" came even before the October Revolution on a wave of interest in the scout movement. The first scout detachment was created in our country in 1909, and 1914 became the official date of the foundation of the Russian Scout social movement, which borrowed the basic principles and motto of its English colleagues.
After the October Revolution, Scout societies, like many other social movements that had a large number of adherents in pre-revolutionary Russia, were officially banned. However, the Soviet government decided to take advantage of the significant public interest in the topic of out-of-school education of the younger generation, creating a worthy replacement for scout units.
Such a replacement for the scout movement was the pioneer organization of the Soviet Union, which quickly gained such popularity that only a few citizens remembered its origins. Together with the basic principles of the movement, the pioneer organization borrowed from the scouts their motto "Be ready!", And at the same time the response to it - "Always ready!" However, to include it in the ideological program of the movement, some modification of this appeal was made: in particular, it was argued that it was an abbreviated version of the full motto, which sounded like "Be ready to fight for the cause of the Communist Party!"
